'And the third angel
sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell
upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the
star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men
died of the waters, because they were made bitter.'

Message from a mailing list:

How about the idea of a big one on a
collision course with the earth? It's a topic for more and more films and tv shows.
Imagine the terrible fear over the whole earth. "In those days, men's hearts will
fail them (heart attacks) for fear of what is coming upon the earth."

I think this is a very real possibility. Along that same
vein, I was checking things out regarding bride/wedding stuff and came up with this
interesting bit that seems to tie in with Revelation 8:10-11:

"And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great
star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the
rivers, and upon the fountains of waters; And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and
the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because
they were made bitter."

Interestingly enough, the "test" to uncover
adultery (Numbers 5:11-31) is the administration of bitter water -- wormwood. Here are a
few points regarding this taken from various sources:

1. Administered only when there is a doubt if the wife has
been unfaithful or not (this is for those on earth--they are being "tested"? as
opposed to the true bride who is kept from this hour of testing? We should keep in mind
that Jews were considered married from the time of betrothal on.)

2. The Mishna says that the woman should have been warned
to stay away from someone or to be seen talking with him, etc. in front of two
witnesses (the law and the prophets throughout history warning of spiritual adultery, with
Moses and Elijah being the two "best" examples of these two witnesses for these
end-times?)

3. It was used if the husband had "the spirit of
jealousy come upon him" (there are too many examples of where God is said to be
jealous to cite)

4. When the woman stood before the court, they would try
anything to make her confess. First they would terrify her (the tribulation?) and if that
didn't work they'd smooth talk her (just like on Law & Order -- there is nothing new
:)).

5. The woman was to be "wearied" by holding her
husband's Temple offering of "the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal" (which
is an omer [Exo 16:36], the quantity of manna for one man every day [Exo 16:16]--maybe has
something to do with Rev 6:5,6 which speaks of the balances and the measure of wheat and
barley?). Barley was considered food for the beasts.

6. No oil or frankincense was to be used because oil and
frankincense denote joy and gladness and this was a solemn affair (again, maybe Rev 6:5,6
-- hurt not the oil and the wine?)

7. Dust from the Temple floor was put in the water (where
did this "star" come from?).

8. The woman was given black clothing if she was wearing
white, all her ornaments were taken away, she was unveiled and her hair messed up (this is
in direct contrast to the undefiled bride).

9. The curses (of Numbers 5:21,22) written in a book and
and then "blotted out" by the bitter water (there is blotting out of the book of
life, but I don't see a connection).

10. The woman was forced to drink this water (the waters
of Marah were changed from bitter to sweet by having a tree [Jesus, tree of life] **cast**
into it [Exo 15:22-27]). If she was guilty her belly swelled and her thigh rotted. When
they saw her swelling up they'd shout "Cast her out, cast her out that she might not
defile the court" and this made me think of Satan (see further down). The
significance of the belly and thigh being mentioned is another study in itself, but
basically the belly is where "rivers of living water flow" to those who believe
on Jesus (John 7:38--see also Job 15:35; 20:23; Dan 2:32; Jonah; Rom 16:18; Rev 10:9) and
the thigh is where the sword is gird and where promises are attested to (Psa 45:3; Gen
24:2; 32:32; Rev 19:16).

11. The day that the draught of a women suspected of
adultery was administered was on the 15th of Adar (around February).

Regarding the verses in Revelation that speak of a great
mountain being thrown into the ocean and hail, etc. this makes me think of Jewish stoning.
Again, the theme of a wife being found guilty of adultery comes into play here because
such a woman would be stoned. First, the witnesses (usually 2), would tie the person's
hands behind their backs, then throw them off a projection (usually the height of 2 men)
and this made me think of Rev 12:9 (the dragon and his angels **cast** to earth). If this
didn't kill the person, one witness would throw a huge stone on the offending person's
chest (Rev 8:8--a great mountain cast into the sea). If this didn't kill them, then all
Israel was to come and throw stones at the person until they died (Rev 16:21--great hail
out of heaven). Is the earth being stoned from heaven?

Exodus 15:22-27--The people complain about
bitter water: So Moses (drawn) brought Israel (God prevails) from the Red sea, and
they went out into the wilderness of Shur (wall); and they went three days in the
wilderness, and found no water. And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the
waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah.
And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And he cried unto the
LORD; and the LORD showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the
waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he
proved them, And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God,
and will do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and
keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought
upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee. And they came to Elim
(palms), where were twelve wells of water, and threescore and ten palm trees: and
they encamped there by the waters.

(The New John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible)

Numbers 5.11-31
Ver. 11. And the Lord spake unto Moses, &c.] At the same time, and delivered to
him a new law:

saying; as follows.

Ver. 12. Speak unto the children of Israel, and say
unto them, &c.] It being an affair which concerned them:

if any man's wife go aside, and commit a trespass
against him; the sin of adultery, which is a going aside out of the way of virtue and
chastity, and a trespass against an husband, a breach of the marriage covenant with him, a
defiling his bed, doing an injury and dishonour to him, bringing confusion into his
family, and a spurious offspring to possess his substance: though this is to be
understood, not of certain adultery, of which there is plain and full proof, for then
there would be no occasion of such a trial, as is afterwards directed to; besides, her
husband, in such a case, might put her away, and even, according to the law, she was to be
put to death, (Le 20:10); but of her having committed it in the opinion of her husband, he
having some ground of suspicion, though he could not be certain of it; and therefore, by
this law, was allowed to make trial, that he might find it out, it at present only a
suspected case, and a doubtful one; and the Jews {k} say,

``they never gave the waters drink but in a
doubtful case:''

and so this may interpreted of her declining and departing
from her husband's house, not keeping at home to mind the affairs of her family, but
gadding abroad, and keeping company with another man, or other men; and that after she had
been warned and charged by her husband to the contrary, and so had disobeyed him, and
acted contrary to his will; and in that sense had committed a trespass, and so had given
him suspicion of her unchastity, for which he might have some reason; if, as it is said in
the Misnah {l}, he gave her an admonition before two witnesses, saying, have no talk with
such a man, and yet she talks with him; or, as the commentators add {m}, be not secretly
or in private with such an one, and yet goes into a private place with him, and stays so
long with him that she may be defiled; this with them rendered her suspected.

Ver. 13. And a man lie with her carnally, &c.]
That is, is suspected that he has so done, not that it is a clear case, for it follows;

and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept
close; so that it is not known by her husband, nor by any other; "she hath hid
herself," so Ainsworth, being in a private place with another man, though warned to
the contrary by her husband:

and she be defiled, and [there be] no witness against
her; of her being defiled, though there may be of her being in private with such a
man:

neither she be taken [with the manner]; or in the
act of uncleanness.

Ver. 14. And the spirit of jealousy come upon him,
&c.] A thought rises up in his mind, a strong suspicion works in him, which he cannot
resist and throw off, but it remains with him, and makes him very uneasy, that his wife
has defiled his bed, as it follows:

and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled;
that his wife is defiled by a man; and which is the real case, as it afterwards appears,
though at present he is not certain, only has a suspicion of it:

or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be
jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled; it is mere jealousy and suspicion,
without any foundation for it; and his wife proved a chaste and virtuous woman; yet be it
which it would, he being jealous, the following law was to take place, and the following
rules to be observed.

Ver. 15. Then shall the man bring his wife unto the
priest, &c.] Not to the high priest but to a common priest, anyone then
officiating in his course; for there was a jealousy offering to be offered up before the
Lord upon the altar, which none but a priest might do; and besides, the whole process in
this affair was to be carried, on by him: according to the Misnah {n}, the man brought his
wife first to the sanhedrim, or court of judicature in the place where he lived; before
whom, as Maimonides {o} says, he proved by witnesses that he had warned his wife of being
in private with such a man, and yet she had done it again; and whereas she insisted on her
chastity, he desired that the bitter waters might be given her, that the truth might
appear; and then they sent him with two disciples of the wise men, to the great sanhedrim
at Jerusalem, where the trial was made; who, in order to bring her too confession,
endeavoured to terrify her, as they do persons in capital cases, and finding this wilt not
do, then they used smooth words, saying, my daughter, perhaps much wine was the occasion
of it, or much laughter, &c.

and he shall bring her offering for her: not the
priest, but her husband, and that whether he is willing or not, as Aben Ezra; who also
observes, that it may be interpreted, with her, or for her sake, not to make any expiation
for any fault of his, that when he first observed her immodesty, did not reprove her; for
the offering, though brought by him, was not his, but his wife's, and not to expiate her
sin, but to bring it to remembrance, as is after expressed:

the tenth [part] of an ephah of barley meal; which
was an omer, (Ex 16:36), the quantity of manna for one man every day, (Ex 16:16), and the
quantity of flour in the daily meat offering, (Ex 29:40); only that was of fine wheaten
flour; this of barley, the food of beasts, as the Targum of Jonathan remarks; and R.
Gamaliel in the Misnah {p} says, that as her deed was the deed of a beast, so her offering
was the food of a beast; and this is observed by Jarchi and Aben Ezra on the text, as the
reason of barley being used in this offering: some say it was a symbol of her impudence,
others of her being little at home, as the barley is not long under ground {q}; the true
reason, it may be, was for her humiliation, being vile, and mean, hence it follows:

he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense
thereon; as used to be oft meat offerings, denoting their acceptableness to God, (Le
2:1); the reason seems to be, because these were tokens of joy and gladness, whereas this
was a mournful affair to the husband, that he should have any cause of suspicion and
jealousy, to the wife that she should be suspected, and to the whole family on that
account:

for it [is] an offering of jealousy, an offering of
memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance; if guilty of it, and therefore oil and
frankincense were forbidden in this kind of offering as in a sin offering, (Le 5:11).

Ver. 16. And the priest shall bring her near,
&c.] Or "offer it," as the Vulgate Latin version, that is, the offering of
jealousy:

and set her before the Lord; or "it," the
offering; for which the Tigurine version is more express,

``let the priest offer that sacrifice, and
set that before the Lord,''

for the setting of the woman before the Lord is spoken of
in (Nu 5:18).

Ver. 17. And the priest shall take holy water,
&c.] Out of the laver, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, and so Jarchi and Aben
Ezra:

in an earthen vessel; which held half a log, and
that was but a quarter of a pint, or three egg shells; for no more was assigned, to a
suspected woman, according to the Misnah {r}. Some say only a fourth part: an earthen
vessel was made use of, as everything vile and mean was in this affair:

and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle
the priest shall take, and put [it] into the water; first the water was put in, and
then the dust, as Ben Gersom observes: there was a place a cubit square, where was a
marble table, and a ring fixed in it, and when he lifted it up he took dust from under it,
and put it so as it might be upon the top of the water {s}; which was used, either, as the
Targum of Jonathan suggests, because the end of all flesh is to come to dust, and so to
put her in mind of her original and her end; and in like manner the earthen vessel might
signify, that she would be broke to pieces as that vessel; as also it might direct her
thoughts to the tempter, by the influence of whose temptation she had been drawn into this
sin, dust being the serpent's food; and this being taken off the floor of the tabernacle,
might add to the veneration of it, and make it more solemn and awful to drink of it.

Ver. 18. And the priest shall set the woman before the
Lord, &c.] In the east of the tabernacle, with her face to the west, where was the
holy of holies, so Ben Gersom; but not immediately for they had her from place to place,
as Jarchi says, till she was weary, and her mind disturbed, that she might confess; and if
she said, I am defiled, she rent the writing of her dowry, and went out; but if she said,
I am pure, they brought her to the eastern gate, the gate of Nicanor, for there they made
women suspected of adultery to drink the waters {t}:

and uncover the woman's head; as a token of her
immodesty and non-subjection to her husband, and that she might be seen by all, to cause
shame in her: according to the Misnah {u}, the priest took off her clothes, and loosed her
hair--if she was clothed with white garments, he clothed her with black; if she had on her
ornaments of gold, chains, earrings, or rings, he took them away from her, that she might
be unseemly, and whoever would might come and look at her:

and put the offering of memorial into her hands, which
[is] the jealousy offering; to weary her, as Jarchi says, that if perhaps her mind was
disturbed she would confess; and so in the Misnah {w} it is said, that her husband put
this offering into her hands to weary her; but the true reason here seems to be, that it
might appear to be her own offering:

and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water
that causeth the curse; not that the water was bitter of itself, for it was the water
out of the laver, and had nothing in it but the dust of the floor of the tabernacle;
though some think some bitter thing was put into it, so Ben Gersom, as wormwood; but it is
so called from the effects of it on those that were guilty; it produced sad effects in
them, bitter and distressing, and made them appear to be accursed ones, for it was not
bitter till it entered, (Nu 5:24); whereas it was not so to the innocent, nor attended
with any such consequence to them; so that there was nothing in the water itself, but its
efficacy was divine and supernatural.

Ver. 19. And the priest shall charge her by an oath,
&c.] Or give her her oath:

and say unto the woman, if no man hath lain with thee:
besides her husband:

and thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness [with
another] instead of thy husband; which is but another phrase expressive of the same
thing, the sin of adultery:

be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the
curse; if this is the case, it shall produce no bitter effects, or bring any curse
upon thee.

Ver. 20. But if thou hast gone aside to another instead
of thy husband, &c.] Gone aside from the paths of modesty and chastity, and betook
herself to another man's bed instead of her husband's:

and if thou be defiled, by committing adultery:

and some man hath lain with thee beside thy husband;
these phrases are all synonymous, and a heap of words are made use of to express the sin,
and that there might be no evasion of it, and that it might be clear what was intended,
this being said on oath.

Ver. 21. Then the priest shall charge the woman with an
oath of cursing, &c.] An oath which has a curse annexed to it, if taken falsely,
which was to be pronounced upon the woman if guilty:

and the priest shall say unto the woman;
pronouncing the imprecation or curse upon her, she having taken the oath, should she be
guilty of the crime suspected of, and she had swore concerning:

the Lord make thee a curse, and an oath among the
people; accursed according to the oath taken; or let this be the form of an oath and
imprecation used by the people, saying, if I have done so and so, let me be accursed as
such a woman, or let not that happen to me, as did to such a woman, so Jarchi:

when the Lord doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly
to swell; upon drinking the bitter waters; but though these things followed upon that,
yet not as the natural cause of them, for they are ascribed to the Lord, and to a
supernatural and miraculous power of his, which went along with the drinking of them

Ver. 22. And this water that causeth the curse,
&c.] Upon the drinking of which the curse follows, if guilty:

shall go into thy bowels; and there operate and
produce the above effects, which are repeated again to inject terror:

to make [thy] belly to swell, and [thy] thigh to rot;
here ends the form of the oath, which begins (Nu 5:19);

and the woman shall say, amen, amen; so be it; let
it be as pronounced, if I am guilty; which, as Aben Ezra observes, is repeated for the
sake of confirmation; though the Jewish writers commonly understand it as respecting
various things, the oath and the curse, the thing charged with, and the persons suspected
of {x}.

{x} Misn. ib. sect. 5. Targum Jon. & Jerus. &
Jarchi in loc.

Ver. 23. And the priest shall write these curses in a
book, &c.] The above curses imprecated on herself by an oath; the words and the
letters of them were written at length, in a scroll of parchment; and, as some say also,
her name, but not her double amen to them {y}:

and he shall blot [them] out with the bitter water:
wash them out with it, and into it, or scrape them off of the parchment into it.

{y} Misnah, ut supra, (Sotah, c. 2) sect. 3.

Ver. 24. And he shall cause the woman to drink the
bitter water that causeth the curse, &c.]. Having the curse imprecated upon
herself, if guilty, scraped into it; and this she was obliged to drink, whether she would
or not; so it is said, if the roll is blotted out, and she says I am defiled, the water is
poured out, and her offering is scattered in the place of ashes; if the roll is blotted
out, and she says I will not drink, then force her, and make her drink whether she will or
no {z}:

and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into
her, [and become] bitter; produce the sad and bitter effects mentioned.

{z} Misnah, ut supra, (Sotah) c. 3. sect. 3.

Ver. 25. Then the priest shall take the jealousy
offering out of the woman's hand, &c.] Which she was obliged to hold in her hand
while the above rites and ceremonies were performed; which was very heavy, being an omer
of barley flour, a measure about three quarts, which was put into an Egyptian basket made
of small palm tree twigs: and this was put into her hands to weary her, as before
observed, that, having her mind distressed, she might the sooner confess her crime:

and shall wave the offering before the Lord:
backwards and forwards, upwards and downwards, as Jarchi; who also observes, that the
woman waved with him, for her hand was above the hand of the priest so the tradition is,

``he (her husband) took her offering out of
the Egyptian basket, and put it into a ministering vessel, and gave it into her
hand, and the priest put his hand under hers, and waved it {a}:''

and offer it upon the altar: this was the bringing
of it to the southwest corner of the altar, as Jarchi says, before he took a handful out
of it, as in other meat offerings.

{a} Misnah, ut supra, (Sotah) c. 3. sect. 1.

Ver. 26. And the priest shall take an handful of the
offering, [even] the memorial thereof, &c.] For good or evil, according as her
works were, as Aben Ezra observes; a memorial for good, if innocent, and a memorial for
evil, if guilty:

and burn [it] upon the altar; as the handful of
other meat offerings used to be, (Le 1:2);

and afterwards shall cause the woman to drink the water;
oblige her to it; having proceeded thus far, and no confession made, namely, an oath
taken, the curses of it written in a scroll and scraped into the waters, and the jealousy
offering waved and offered.

Ver. 27. And when he hath made her to drink the water,
&c.] For, as before observed, and here by Jarchi again, if she says I will not drink
it, after the roll is blotted out, they oblige her, and make her drink it whether she will
or not, unless she says I am defiled:

then it shall come to pass, [that] if she be defiled,
and have done trespass against her husband; or has committed adultery:

that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into
her, [and become] bitter; the water drank by her, and having the curses scraped into
it, shall enter into her, and operate and produce bitter and dreadful effects:

and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot;
not through any natural virtue in the water, or what is put into it, either the dust of
the floor of the tabernacle, or the scrapings of the parchment roll, these could have no
physical influence to produce such effects; but they must be ascribed to a supernatural
cause, the power and curse of God attending this draught. A certain Jewish writer {b}
says, though very falsely, that the priest put poison into the water, which produced such
effects; but then, how could an innocent woman escape the effects of it? that must be
allowed to be miraculous and supernatural, was it so; but there is no manner of reason to
believe that anything of this kind was put into it, The Jews say {c}, as soon, or before
she had made an end of drinking: the water, the effects appeared; her face turned pale
immediately, her eyes bolted out, and she was filled with veins, her body swelled, and
they called out, Cast her out, cast her out, that she may not defile the court. And the
text seems to intimate, as if the operation was immediate; yea, moreover, they say {d},
that as the waters searched her, so they searched him (the adulterer), because it is said
twice, "shall enter, shall enter"; and that the same effects appeared in him as
in her, but in neither, unless the husband was innocent; for if he was not pure from the
same sin himself, the waters would not search his wife {e} hence they say {f}, when
adulterers increased (under the second temple) the bitter waters ceased, according to (Ho
4:14); see (Mt 12:39). This practice has been imitated by the Heathens; the river Rhine,
according to Julian the emperor {g}, tried the legitimacy of children; and so lakes have
been used for the trial of perjury and unchastity, as the Stygian lake for perjury, and
another of the same name near Ephesus for unchastity; into which, if persons suspected of
adultery descended, having the form of an oath hanging about their necks, if they were
pure, the waters stood unmoved, but if corrupt, they swelled up to their necks, and
covered the tablet on which the oath was written {h}. The priestesses of a certain deity
being obliged to live a single life, were tried by drinking bullocks' blood, upon which,
if false to their oath and corrupt, they immediately died, as Pausanias {i} relates; and
Macrobius {k} speaks of some lakes in Sicily, the inhabitants called the Cups, to which
recourse was had when persons were suspected of any ill, and where an oath was taken of
them; if the person swore truly, he departed unhurt, but if falsely, he immediately lost
his life in the lake. Philostratus {l} relates of a water near Tyana, a city in
Cappadocia, sacred to Jupiter, which the inhabitants call Asbamaea, which to those that
kept their oaths was placid and sweet, but to perjured persons the reverse; it affected
their eyes, hands, and feet, and seized them with dropsies and consumptions; nor could
they depart from the water, but remained by it, mourning their sad case, and confessing
their perjury: but what comes nearest to this usage of the Jews is a custom at marriages
among the savages at Cape Breton {m}: at a marriage feast, two dishes of meat are brought
to the bridegroom and bride in two "ouragans" (basins made of the bark of a
tree), and the president of the feast addresses himself to the bride thus,

``and thou that art upon the point of
entering into a respectable state, know, that the nourishment thou art going
to take forebodes the greatest calamities to thee, if thy heart is capable of
harbouring any ill design against thy husband, or against thy nation: shouldest
thou ever be led astray by the caresses of a stranger; or shouldest thou
betray thy husband, and thy country, the victuals contained in this "ouragan"
will have the effects of a slow poison, with which thou wilt be tainted from this
very instant; but if, on the other hand, thou remainest faithful to thy husband, and
to thy country, if thou wilt never insult the one for his defect, nor give a description
of the other to the enemy, thou wilt find this nourishment both agreeable and wholesome.''

Now if these relations can be credited, then much more
this of the bitter waters, for though there was something wonderful and supernatural in
them, yet nothing incredible:

and the woman shall be a curse among her people:
the time she lives; but then all this while she was looked upon as an accursed person, and
despised and shunned by all.

Ver. 28. And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean,
&c.] If she is not guilty of adultery, but pure from that sin:

then she shall be free; from the effects of the
bitter water; they shall have no such influence upon her, but she shall be as soured and
healthful as ever; nay, the Jewish writers say more so, that if she had any sickness or
disease upon her she would now be freed from it {n}; the Targum of Jonathan has it, her
splendour shall shine, the brightness and beauty of her countenance:

and shall conceive seed; a man child, as the same
Targum; and the Jewish writers say, if she was barren before, now she would be fruitful;
but no more is meant by it than that her husband should receive her gladly, and she should
live comfortably with him hereafter, and the blessing of God would be upon her, which
would still be a confirmation of her chastity.

{n} Maimon. Hilchot Sotah, c. 3. sect. 22.

Ver. 29. This [is] the law of jealousies, &c.]
Which was appointed by God to deter wives from adultery, and preserve the people of
Israel, the worshippers of him, from having a spurious brood among them; and to keep
husbands from being cruel to their wives they might be jealous of, and to protect virtue
and innocence, and to detect lewdness committed in the most secret manner; whereby God
gave proof of his omniscience, that he had knowledge of the most private acts of
uncleanness, and was the avenger of all such. The reasons why such a law was not made
equally in favour of women, as of men, are supposed to be these: because of the greater
authority of the man over the woman, which would seem to be lessened, if such a power was
granted her; because marriage was not so much hurt, or so much damage came to families by
the adultery of men, as of women; because women are more apt to be suspicious than men,
and in those times more prone to adultery, through their eager desire of children, that
they might not lie under reproach {o}:

when a wife goeth aside [to another] instead of her
husband, and is defiled; is suspected of going aside to another man, and is supposed
to be defiled by him.

{o} Vid. Salden. ut supra, (Otia, l. 1. Exercitat. 6.)
sect. 19.

Ver. 30. Or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon
him, and he be jealous over his wife, &c.]

and shall set the woman before the Lord; has
carried the matter so far as to bring his wife to the priest or civil magistrate, and
declare his suspicion, and the ground of it:

and the priest shall execute upon her all this law;
he shall proceed according to the law, and perform every rite and ceremony required; nor
could any stop be put to it, unless the woman owned she was defiled.

Ver. 31. Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity,
&c.] Which otherwise he would not, by conniving at her loose way of living, and not
reproving her for it, and bringing her either to repentance or punishment; and retaining
and encouraging jealousy in his mind, without declaring it, and his reasons for it: the
sense of the passage seems to be, that when a man had any ground for his suspicion and
jealousy, and he proceeded according as this law directs, whether his wife was guilty or
not guilty, no sin was chargeable on him, or blame to be laid to him, or punishment
inflicted on him:

and the woman shall bear her iniquity; the
punishment of it, through the effects of the bitter waters upon her, if guilty; nor was
her husband chargeable with her death, she justly brought it on herself: or if not guilty,
yet as she had by some unbecoming behaviour raised such a suspicion in him, nor would she
be reclaimed, though warned to the contrary, she for it justly bore the infamy of such a
process; which was such, as Maimonides says {p}, that innocent women would give all that
they had to escape it, and reckoned death itself more agreeable than that, as to be served
as such a woman was;

Jeremiah 9:13-15
And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have
not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein; But have walked after the imagination of
their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them: Therefore thus saith
the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed then, even this people,
with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink.

Jeremiah 23:14,15
I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and
walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his
wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as
Gomorrah. Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will
feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of
Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land.

Lamentations 3:15
He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with wormwood.

This is from a transcript entitled:

General Assembly Forty-fifth session Excerpts from the provisional verbatim
record of the thirty-second meeting held at Headquarters, New York on Tuesday,
23 October 1990, at 10 a.m.

The following remarks were made by Mr. Kravchanka (Byelorussian SSR )
(interpretation from Russian):

"In Slavic languages, including the Ukrainian and Byelorussian
languages, there is a word 'chernobyl', which means wormwood, bitter grass. This
has striking relevance to the Chernobyl tragedy. I am no fatalist. I do not
believe in the blind inevitability of fate, but who can fail to be moved by
these tragic and elegiac words from Revelation, which must leave their indelible
imprint on the heart:

'... and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and
it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of water;

And the name of the star is called Wormwood: and the third part of the waters
became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made
bitter.' (The Holy Bible, Revelation 8:10-11)

"At the end of the twentieth century the human intellecteducated in
rationalism, in faith, in the creative power of science and knowledgerefuses
to accept that those words may prove prophetic and fateful for the Byelorussian
people. To prevent Chernobyl from becoming an irreversible tragedy for the
Byelorussian people, we must immediately adopt a more comprehensive set of
additional measures, particularly medical and biological measures. The reality
is vastly different from the earlier estimates of Soviet and foreign experts.
This has been demonstrated by reliable data concerning the deterioration in the
health of our Republic's inhabitants.

...

"Today we wish to make one more proposal: to proclaim 26 April, the day
when Chernobyl disaster occurred, as an international day for the prevention of
nuclear and other industrial disasters. I wish to emphasize that the Parliaments
Byelorussia and the Ukraine by special decrees have already proclaimed 26 April,
the day of the Chernobyl tragedy, a day of mourning and remembrance."

Also from the UN website:

16 September 1997 Press Release GA/9297

CURRENT GENERAL ASSEMBLY SESSION CAN MARK BEGINNING OF NEW ERA IN UNITED
NATIONS HISTORY, PRESIDENT TELLS OPENING MEETING

Says Members Have Chance to Revitalize World Body To Meet Mounting
Challenges, 'Reunite the United Nations'

Following is the text of the inaugural address given today by Hennadiy
Udovenko, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, as President of the
fifty-second session of the General Assembly:

...

"The current environmental problems also demand our increased attention.
The sustainability of the entire ecosystem is put in question by the
irresponsible exploitation of nature and by mismanagement. This poses a serious
threat to our common well-being. The sad illustration of this is the Chernobyl
catastrophe. It happened on the territory of my country, where -- rephrasing the
revelation of St. John the Divine -- 'a great star fell from heaven upon the
third part of the rivers'. Although it occurred more than a decade ago, the
'Chernobyl star of Wormwood' still hovers like a Damoclean sword over the world
and as a bitter reminder for all of us."

[Note: I do not have the URL for the above press release, but if you go to http://www.un.org/search
you should be able to find it quite easily.]

artemisia: any of a genus (Artemisia) of composite
herbs and shrubs with strong-smelling foliage

Encyclopedia of Herbs, Deni Brown:
Artemisia absinthium (wormwood) has been a household remedy since biblical times, its
bitterness becoming a metaphor for the consequences of sin: "For the lips of a
strange woman drop as an honeycomb, And her mouth is smoother than oil: But her end is
bitter as wormwood" (Proverbs 5:3-4)...Absinthium, the species name, means
"without sweetness," and refers to the intensely bitter taste. Its common name
"wormwood" comes from the German Wermut, "preserver of the
mind," since the herb was thought to enhance mental functions...Properties...It
stimulates the uterus and expels intestinal worms.

____________________

(Geneva Bible footnotes)

Artemis: a Greek moon goddess often protrayed as a virgin
huntress--compare DIANA

Acts 19:35:
And when the townclerk had appeased the people (who were upset that Paul had said that no
gods were made with hands), he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that
knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana,
and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?

The Ephesians believed superstitiously that the image of
Diana came down to them from heaven.

----

(Robertson's Word Pictures)

Jupiter was considered lord of the sky or heaven...The
legend about a statue fallen from heaven occurs concerning the statue of Artemis at
Tauris, Minerva at Athens, etc. Thus the recorder (townclerk) soothed the vanity of the
crowd by appeal to the world-wide fame of Ephesus as sacristan (keeper) of Artemis and of
her heaven-fallen image.

(Worlds in Collision, Immanuel Velikovsky)

"When comets pass close to the earth, stones
occasionally fall...Since the planets were gods, stones hurled by them or by the comets
created in their encounters, were feared as divine missiles, and when they fell and were
found, they were worshiped.

"The stone of Cronus at Delphi, the image of Diana at
Ephesus, which, according to Acts (19:35), was the image which fell down from Jupiter, the
stones of Amon and Seth at Thebes, were meteorites. Also the image of Venus on Cyprus was
a stone which fell from the sky. The Palladium of Troy was a stone that fell on the earth
"from Pallas Athene" (the planet Venus). The sacred stone of Tyre, too, was a
meteorite related to Astarte, the planet Venus. "Traveling about the world, she
[Astarte] found a star falling from air, or sky, which she taking up, consecrated on the
holy island [Tyre]." At Aphaca in Syria a meteorite fell which "was thought to
be Astarte herself," and a temple to Astarte was built there; festivals "were
regularly timed to coincide with the appearance of Venus as the Morning or Evening
Star."

"The stone on which the temple of Solomon was
built--Eben Shetiya, or fire stone--is a bolide that fell in the beginning of the tenth
century, in the time of David, when a comet, which bore the appearance of a man with a
sword, was seen in the sky. The sacred shield of Numa at Rome, the ancile of Roman Mars,
was a bolide; it fell from the sky in the beginning of the seventh century and its origin
was connected with Mars...Carving messages to peoples or kings on fallen stones was known
before and has been practiced since.

"One of the stones that fell from the sky is still
worshiped today--it is the black stone of Kaaba in Mecca. Now its surface is black from
being touched and kissed innumerable times, but under its cover of dirt it retains its
original reddish color. It is the holiest thing in Mecca, built into the wall of Kaaba,
and pilgrims travel thousands of miles to kiss it...The black stone of Kaaba, according to
Moslem tradition, fell from the planet Venus; but another legend says that it was brought
down by the Archangel Gabriel."

[ I got my paperback copy of Velikovsky's "Worlds in Collision" over ten years ago in a second-hand bookstore and I paid
50 cents for it. Nowadays it's well-nigh impossible to find any books by him, never mind in this price range. Amazon had some
reissued works but they were sold out immediately and seem to be completely out-of-stock at this time. Making inquiries at
second-hand bookstores brings the price of between $100-200 for a hardcover edition. Seeing it is so hard to find a copy I
would recommend the following instead: Cataclysm : Compelling Evidence of a Cosmic Catastrophe in 9500 B. C. by D. S.
Allan, J. B. Delair. Philologos review of the book:

This book is absolutely chock full of scientific evidence that helps explain the earthly changes forecast in the book
of Revelation. All the natural phenomena related in the last book of the Bible finds its counterpart in the ancient
earthly record and is a matter of "been there, done that" as far as the earth is concerned. You can't explain away
the residual evidence of a cataclysmic event in the past so it's not too far-fetched to imagine it happening again.
The most unbelievable aspect of this research is that more people have not been exposed to it.

"Why did John choose to use the simile of the great
star as wormwood? The Egyptians had a luminous demon idol who presided over a third of the
waters. The Popular and Critical Bible Encyclopedia and Scripture Dictionary (Vol. 3, p.
1735) says, 'The vocation of this star was to destroy by poison, not by fire, sword, or
famine. St. John seems to employ this symbol of Egyptian poison and bitterness as the
prototype of a great anti-christian power, which would poison and embitter the pure waters
of christian life and doctrine, converting them into wormwood, mitzraim, being a figure of
apostasy and rebellion."

"The Temple: Its Ministry and Services, Chapter 11 The Preparations for the
Passover" explains that the draught of a women suspected of adultery is
administered on 15th of Adar.

When Venus sprang out of Jupiter as a comet and flew very close to the earth,
it became entangled in the embrace of the earth. The internal heat developed by
the earth and the scorching gases of the comet were in themselves sufficient to
make the vermin of the earth propagate at a very feverish rate. Some of the
plagues, like the plague of the frogs ("the land brought forth forgs")
or of the locusts, msut be ascribed to such causes. Anyone who has experienced a
khamsin (sirocco), an electrically charged wind blowing from the desert, knows
how, during the few days that the wind blows, the ground around the villages
begins to teem with vermin.

The question arises here whether or not the comet Venus infested the earth
with vermin which it may have carried in its trailing atmosphere in the form of
larvae together with stones and gases. It is significant that all around the
world peoples have associated the planet Venus with flies.

In Ekron, in the land of the Philistines, thre was erected a magnificent
temple to Baal Zevuv, the god of the fly. In the ninth century King Ahaziah of
Jezreel, after he was injured in an accident, sent his emissaries to ask advice
of this god at Ekron and not of the oracle at Jerusalem. This Baal Zevuv is
Beelzebub of the Gospels.

...

The Zend-Avesta, describing the battle of Tistrya, "the leader of the
stars against the planets" (Darmesteter), refers to worm-stars that
"fly between the earth and heaven," and that supposedly signify the
meteorites. Possibly it is a reference to their infesting property.

This idea of contaminating comets is found in a belief of the Mexicans
described by Sahagun: "The Mexicans called the comet citlalin popoca which
means a smoking star...These natives called the tail of such a star citalin
tlamina, exhalation of the comet; or, literally, 'the star shoots a dart.' They
believed that when such a dart fell on a living organism, a hare, a rabbit, or
any other animal, worms sudenly formed in the wound and made the animal unfit to
serve as food. It was for this reason that they took great care to cover
themselves during the night so as to protect themselves from this inflaming
emanation."

The Mexicans thus thought that larvae from the emanation of the comet fell on
all livinig things. As I have already mentioned, they called Venus a
"smoking star." Sahagun says also that at the rising of the Morning
Star, the Mexicans used to shut the chimneys and other apertures in order to
prevent mishap from penetrating into the house together with the light of the
star.

"Project Wormwood is a small program run by IPS Radio and Space Services (a unit of the Australian Government Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources) and established at Learmonth Solar Observatory...

"Learmonth Solar Observatory (LSO) is located on the North West Cape of Western Australia at approximate coordinates 22 degrees south and 114 degrees east.

"Established in 1979, it is jointly managed by the US and Australian governments. It is staffed by four different organisations - the US Air Force Weather Agency, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the USAF 15th Communications Squadron (Maintenance), and the Australian IPS Radio and Space Services. It is a real-time space weather patrol observatory that monitors the near space environment...

[next to a picture of the observatory]
"The third angel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell from the sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water - the name of the star is Wormwood. Revelation 8:10-11

"Telescope, mount, cameras and associated equipment arrived at Learmonth Solar Observatory and were initially set up in 2003."

Please be advised that this domain (Philologos.org) does not
endorse 100 per cent any link contained herein. This forum is for the
dissemination of pertinent information on an end-times biblical theme which
includes many disturbing, unethical, immoral, etc. topics and should be viewed
with a mature, discerning eye.